


Beacon High

by Harbinger00



Series: RWBY [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-23 00:42:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10708572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harbinger00/pseuds/Harbinger00
Summary: Join Ruby and the rest of her gang as they take on Beacon Academy, a prestigious high school that a very select few are able to get into. This is an AU of the main series, RWBY, and said show is owned by Rooster Teeth and the deceased Monty Oum (rest in peace). Rated M for future elements that are too serious for any lesser ratings.





	1. Beacon High - Chapter 1: Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby comes home to Yang early from her summer job.

 

Chapter 1: Epilogue

_Red like roses fills my dreams and brings me to the place you rest,_

I trudged along an old gravel walkway, with my hood up and my headphones on, I listened to the mellow and melancholic music as I made my way back home after spending the day in a car repair shop near her home with my uncle, Qrow. Today wasn’t a very busy day, meaning I got to leave early and spend the rest of her afternoon with my sister.

_White is cold and always yearning, burdened by the royal test,_

I have always had an affinity for mechanics, seeing as how I could always understand the parts of a machine better than I could a person. Qrow taught a mechanics class in Signal once, before my time, and opened up a car repair shop, he figured instead of teaching mechanics he would actually do something regarding it. Qrow was getting older and needed some help around the shop and he figured it would be a good learning experience for me, an offer I eagerly accepted as Qrow had become my own idol, I picked up his interests in mechanics, and soon enough I nearly became an expert in that field, knowing what was wrong with a machine just by looking at it. Sadly, however, it was only a summer job, and this joyous season was coming to an end.

Qrow wasn’t really her uncle, he was Yang’s, but he became a family member to me as well, as I had started to call him uncle as well.

_Black the beast descends from shadows, yellow beauty burns… gold~_

The song went into a more upbeat tune, becoming totally instrumental instead of there being any vocals, which made the beat irresistible to pat on my legs as I walked. Because Qrow was already her tutor, he took it upon himself to teach me more advanced things along the way, so instead of being a freshman, I would start off the new school year as a junior.

As the beat of the song slowed down, there was a slight pause, until it picked back up again, except much faster, and then I couldn’t help but hum with the tune.

As the song slowed to a stop, I got closer to my home; a rather large cabin for a family of three, each member had a room of their own, including a guest room in case her uncle decided to drop in for a week or so.

As I slowed to a stop, she checked her phone to see what time it was.

‘2:30,’ Ruby thought to herself, ‘Maybe me and Yang can play a little Street Fighter…’  
I still had yet to beat my older sister, Yang had a streak of 7 wins in a row, and after that, Ruby made a vow that she would break that streak.

Yang had always been good at fighting, real or not, it’s always been a gift of hers. I remember one time, in middle school, some boys were bullying me and were calling me lewd names. One day, I came home crying about it and I told Yang all about the three boys who were picking on me. The next day, I discovered that the two gooneys had black eyes and broken noses, and the leader had both his eyes blackened, an arm broken, and a few cracked ribs. They never even looked in my direction ever again.

I grabbed the keys from my pocket and unlocked the door to my home, my dad wasn’t back yet due to his busy work schedule, he teaches physical science at Signal Academy for summer school.

As I opened the door, I called out for her older sister to see if she was home.

“Yang?” I called out, “Yaaaaaang,”

“Hey, little sis!” Yang called from the loft that led to their two bedrooms, she was dressed in a yellowish-orange tank top and grey sweatpants, her golden hair was pulled into one massive ponytail, she leaned over the railing on the loft , “You’re home awfully early.”

“Yeah, work was kind of slow today, so Uncle Qrow let me leave early,” I replied with a shrug, “what have you been up to while I’ve been gone?

“Not much,” she replied, “just getting ready for school later this week, gotta start packing for the dorms, ya know?”

I had totally forgotten about that, Yang was just accepted into the most prestigious private school in all of Vale. Beacon Academy. One more thing I had forgotten about was that she would be leaving their home, and Ruby wouldn’t have anybody to hang out with. Beacon High was hundreds of miles into the heart of the continent of Vale and too far away for them to see each other that often.

“Awwwww,” I pouted and pleaded, “please don’t leave me.”

“Rubes, I gotta, you know that,” Yang said with her brows furrowed, “I wish I didn’t have to, but Beacon is at least 8 hours away, and I can’t drive to and from there everyday.”

“Then take me with you!” I put on my infamous puppy dog face, “Pleeeeease?”

“If I could, you know I would,” She knew better than to make eye contact, so she averted her gaze until I wiped the heart-melting expression off my face, “but only students or kids on field trips are allowed on campus.”

“I know,” I trailed off, “I’m just gonna miss you…”

Tears started to well up in my eyes, ‘me and Yang do almost everything together! What am I supposed to do when she’s gone?’

“Rube…” Yang made her way down the stairs leading to the loft, “I’m still gonna visit when I get a chance to, you know that, don’t you?”

“Of course! It just won’t be the same,” Tears began to fall, “I’m gonna miss sharing funny stories with you, and playing games with you, and riding on your motorcycle with you, and-”

Yang cut her off with a hug, “Ruby, we can do all of those things when I come back home for holidays or something!” She held the hug, “Besides, you’re still planning on applying for Beacon, right?”

She was right. I did intend on joining as soon as this new school year began, because of my good grades, that meant I had a good chance on being able to apply and be accepted into Beacon High. Beacon was a lot like a college, hence the need to apply, however, a student that desires to join such a prestigious academy was required to have phenomenal grades.

She sniffled, “Yeah…”

“Then you have nothing to worry about!” Yang said with a big smile, “I’ll be seeing you soon!”

“But what if I don’t get in?” I started to panic, “Then what do I do? What if I hardly ever see you anymore?” What if-”

“Hey,” Yang pulled away and grasped her shoulders firmly, “You are beyond your years in nearly every subject, Headmaster Ozpin would be insane if he never let you in.”

“I know…”

“Rube, I’m serious.”

I wiped the tears from my eyes and my face, I then willed my silver eyes to meet Yang’s lilac ones, “I know.”

“Good!” Yang patted my left shoulder, “Now, I need to finish packing up some of the smaller stuff, stuff you don’t need to worry about, so I should be done in about, say, an hour? Yeah that sounds about right,” she began to walk back up the stairs, “watch some TV or something and I should be done around that time.”

As Yang made her way back upstairs, I made my own way into the kitchen to find an afternoon snack, ‘I wonder if any cookies are left…’, as I was about to find out, a loud knock echoed throughout the entirety of the Xiao Long-Rose household. As I was about to go answer the door, Yang’s older sibling senses kicked in.

“Uh-uh-uh,” Yang hurried her way down the stairs, “you let me take care of this, sit down in the living room or something.”

As I began to make my way to the living room, I heard Yang greet a familiar person she had only heard of in conversations, “Headmaster Ozpin? What are you doing here?”, Yang asked incredulously.

I quickly hid behind doorway that lead into the living room to listened into the conversation between her older sister and the headmaster of Beacon Academy. I peeked from the doorway to get a better look at the man named Ozpin, “May I come in? I was hoping to speak with you and your younger sister.”

“Of course,” Yang opened the door so that the middle-aged man could have plenty of room to get in, “make yourself at home.”

Although he leaned on his cane for support, the man was a staggering six and a half feet tall, with a slim build and a pale complexion, he wore a black cardigan with a thick, green scarf around his neck, tucked into said cardigan. The man had soft, brown eyes behind small glasses, all paired with silver, tousled hair.

“Thank you,” he limped through the doorway, looking at pictures all the while, until he caught me staring at him while he did so, “Hello, and might you be Miss Rose?”

“Eep!” I leapt out of my once safe hiding place and greeted him with a red face, “Y-Yes! Are you Headmaster Ozpin? Of Beacon Academy?”

He let out a small chuckle, “Yes I am,” he continued to walk forward, “and it’s a pleasure to meet you,” he held out his hand for me to shake, and let’s just say I shook it a little too long for comfort.

“May we sit down?” Ozpin asked politely, “my knee is giving me quite the trouble.”

“Of course!” Yang said, breaking the awkward tension, “right this way, sir.”

Yang led him to the kitchen and pulled out a chair for him to sit in, he leaned his cane against the table and slowly sat down as to not make his knee go out and make him awkwardly fall on his rear.

“Can I get you anything to drink?” Yang asked in the most polite tone she could give.

“Some coffee would be lovely,” Ozpin said with a smile.

“Coming right up!” Yang said as she made her way to the coffee maker, “stronger or normal?”

“Just normal would be nice,”

“How about anything to eat?”

“No thank you,” Ozpin said in his cheery and kind tone, “I ate before I came here, the trip from Beacon is a long one.”

“Speaking of which, why exactly did you need to talk to us?” Yang asked with as much curiosity as I was feeling.

“Ah yes,” He leaned forward as to grab our attention a bit more, “As I was doing research about you, Miss Xiao Long, I noticed your younger sister was quite the scholar too.”

Yang giggled, “It’s intimidating, really,” I chuckled out of nervousness and blushed at the compliment.

Ozpin laughed along as well, “Yes, well, I noticed that this upcoming year, Miss Rose would be eligible to join my academy as well, and I wanted to give her the option if she so desired to.”

I gasped in shock, ‘I can join Beacon Academy now!?’, “S-Sir, I don’t know what to say, of course yes! Thank you! Thank you so much! I mean, I’ll have to ask my dad, but-”

“No need to worry about that, Miss Rose,” Ozpin said with anticipation in his eyes, “I have already talked to your father about it, he said he would be beyond happy if we would have you.”

“Then yes, sir!” I smiled more than I thought humanly possible, “I would love to go to your school!”

“Then it’s settled then,” Ozpin gave a warm smile, “I will hopefully be seeing you later this week then.”

“You won’t be disappointed, sir!” Ruby said adamantly, “Thank you.”

As I said thank you for the tenth time, Yang handed a mug of coffee to Ozpin, “Thank you, sir,” Yang said with a smile.

“Honestly,” Ozpin said with a shrug, “it’s no trouble.”

As Ozpin finished his cup of coffee, he stood up as slowly as he had attempted to sit down, “I must be going then, I will be seeing the both of you when this semester starts, thank you both for having me.”

As Ozpin walked out, Yang turned to me, “I told you I’d be seeing you soon!” Yang scooped me up in a big embrace, one of which I happily returned.

“I know! I mean, I didn’t know that quick, but still,” I let out a hearty laugh, “I have to start packing up too!”

As I turned to the stairs, Yang soon followed along to finish up her own packing, I made a mad dash towards my room and went to work immediately.

‘I can’t believe this is happening!’ I thought excitedly, ‘I get to go to Beacon!’

All things considered, this truly has been the best day of my life.


	2. Beacon High - Chapter 2: Welcome to Beacon, Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss makes her way from Atlas to Vale, so that she may attend Beacon Academy.

Chapter 2: Welcome to Beacon, Part I

 

I was  _ not  _ having a good day.

 

Father was far too busy with his work in order to come with me to Vale, even though  _ he  _ was the one who recommended I even go to Beacon Academy, when I was just content with going to Atlas Academy, where I could have gotten just as good, if not better education than in  _ Vale _ .

 

Ugh, how she hated her father’s decisions.

 

I mean, he’s the  _ leader  _ of the Schnee Fossil Fuel Company, time  _ isn’t  _ a variable with that man, he  _ makes _ the time because he practically commands it. The very least he could have done is rent my own jet until I got to Beacon.

 

But instead I had to sit in a cabin with other _people,_ constantly in fear that her valuables are being crushed by the weight of other people’s luggage. The next most miserable thing was a blonde-haired boy who was sitting just a few seats away, ready to throw up at any given moment, his face as pale as the shattered moon. Although, I suppose he can’t help it. After another ten minutes of him tossing and turning in his seat, desperately try to hold in his lunch, I saw him dash towards the bathroom at inhuman speeds, shoving another passenger out of the way just to get to the small, unkempt bathroom.

 

“Sorry!” He shouted rather loudly, “Excuse me!”

 

It wasn’t until a mere three seconds that everyone in that cabin heard violent retching sounds coming from said area. He came out a few minutes later with a more healthier complexion than he had gone in with, making his navy blue eyes look more arctic and calm. As he was walking back to his seat, I noticed a bulky male with a brown pompadour snicker at him, but the young blonde didn’t seem to notice. When he got back to his seat, he practically  _ body slammed _ into the seat and threw his head back, flipping his long, blonde hair in the process.

 

I let out a small puff through my nostrils and went back to looking out the window, counting down the seconds as they passed. I was eager to get off this  _ damned _ flight and be on my  _ merry _ way. I looked down at my pure white wristwatch to see just how much longer I had to be on this flight, ‘ _ 1:30, and we’re supposed to land in Vale at 3:45, so at least another two hours left of this,’  _ it was then my turn to throw my head back in exasperation, as my eagerness turned to impatience, putting me in a far more foul mood.

 

I watched as a flight attendant walk by, “Excuse me, miss?” She turned her head to see the source of the voice, “may I have some champagne, please?

 

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” her eyebrows creased, “I will have to see some I.D., first.”

 

“Of course,” I pull out my small light blue and white purse, and grab my I.D., “Here you go!”

 

She took a minute to scan for an age, “Ma’am, this says you’re  _ only _ 17,” the flight attendant had an apologetic expression on her face.

 

I chuckled to myself for a second, “How about you look for a name?” My face grew serious at the end of that sentence.

 

The flight attendant’s eyes widened at the sudden realization of  _ who _ she was questioning, “Miss Schnee, my sincerest apology, I will fetch your wine immedia-”

 

“Champagne, actually,” I corrected her, “And no worries.”

 

With another apologetic look, the flight attendant hurried off to grab my drink. As soon as she does, I hear someone a few seats behind me scoff at the whole scene. I look back at them, “Is there a problem?”

 

The same bulky male with the brown pompadour was the source of the noise. As I met his eyes, I took a better look at him, he wore a black polo shirt paired with khakis and black dress shoes, the outfit made the blue in his eyes pop out that much more. After a few seconds of staring, he gave a shit-eating grin and turned towards the window of his own seat, acting as though he had enough of our own little staring contest.

 

I scoffed again, “Dolt,” I mumbled beneath my breath and turned back around, and by the time I did, the flight attendant returned with a silver tray, with two tiny bottles of champagne and a wine glass.

 

“Here you go, Miss Schnee,” She handed me the wine glass, opened one bottle of champagne, and began to pour, “again, my most sincerest of apologies.”

 

“It’s no trouble at all,” I give my best smile to her and she smiles back. As she turns to serve another passenger, I take a sip of my drink and look out of the window again, ‘I hope this flight ends without anymore disruptions, or I swear to God I’m going to-’

 

Her inner monologue was cut off due to turbulence, and ended up spilling the champagne all over her white dress, ‘Just wonderful,’ as she ended her statement with a  _ completely  _ non-sarcastic statement.

 

The rest of the flight had been rather peaceful, aside from the motion sick blond boy having to run to the bathroom at least another four times. As soon as we landed, I was one of the first people to get off the plane, eager to stretch out my legs after such a long trip. I made my way into the airport to retrieve my luggage. I had at least ten suitcases that needed carrying, more than what I could carry, so I had to grab a nearby cart. After I loaded the last of my belongings from the baggage conveyer belt in the center of the airport, I wheeled it outside where there was a limousine waiting for me.

 

The driver of the limo was an older, chubbier man in a black vest on top of a white, button up shirt. He wore black dress pants and black dress shoes to match. He had balding brown hair and soft brown eyes. He was holding up a sign that said, ‘Weiss Schnee’. As I approached him, he looked as though he was caught off guard and jumped after I said hello to him.

 

“Wha! Oh!” The driver attempted to regain his composure, “Hello, Miss Schnee.” He gave a courteous bow.

 

“Hello, Klein” I replied as politely as I could, “it’s nice to see you again.”

 

“Yes,” he smiled, “it’s good to see you too, little snowflake.”

 

I smiled at him and his kindness, “We should get going, I don’t want to miss orientation.”

 

“Of course!” Klein opened the door to the limousine, “You let me worry about your luggage, you just relax from your trip.”

 

“Thank you,” I breathed a sigh of relief. As I made my way into the car, I heard that the radio was on, talking about the eco-terrorists, the White Fang.

 

**“Although the White Fang were once a group of peaceful protestors, determined to save nature from the destruction of industries, the White Fang have recently been sabotaging equipment within these facilities, causing them to malfunction and harm workers, injuring dozens of people. Led by a wanted criminal, Adam Taurus, the White Fang have become a dangerous group to both small and big corporations. Join us with-”**

 

As Klein entered the car, he turned off the radio immediately after. “We need not worry about this now, little snowflake,” Klein said with assurance, “Let’s just focus on taking you to that orientation, yes?”

 

I smiled at Klein as he pulled out of the parking lot and made way to Beacon Academy.

 

The sheer size of Beacon was impressive, even shocking  _ me, _ of all people, by how nice this academy was. I took in the view, only focusing on the building. Klein somehow managed to fit another cart into the limousine, making that job several times easier.

 

“Here you go, little snowflake,” Klein said with fondness, “I hope this school will be a good fit for you.”

 

“I hope so too, Klein,” I said absently, “I hope so too.”

 

As I was admiring the view, I heard bits and pieces of conversations all around while I did so.

 

“Chill, Rubes,” I heard one girl say to another, “they’re just cars.”

 

“Just cars? Yang, they’re the most ingenious thing to ever grace this planet!”

 

“You’re such a dork,” and that was all I heard of the conversation.

 

I began to wheel all of my luggage into beacon, ‘the sooner I get in, the better.’ As I was attempting to make my way into Beacon, a young, black haired with red tips at the end was yelling for the person she call ‘Yang’. She wasn’t looking and ran right into her cart, spilling the contents of one small suitcase. The suitcase that held her treasured belongings.

 

“What do you think you’re doing?!” I screeched with an authoritative voice, “Don’t you know that some of that stuff is  _ sensitive _ ?!” I saw my small music box land several feet away, next to a girl with black hair and a ribbon to match.

 

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t see where I was going, and I was lost, and-”

 

“And nothing! You can’t just go around, running into people’s things without even thinking of where you’re going, what makes you think that’s okay?” I was fuming at this point, so much built up anger from all of this  _ nonsense _ that has happened all day long and now  _ this? _

 

“Look,  _ princess, _ ” it was obvious she was reaching her melting point, “I didn’t mean to-”

 

“It’s heiress, actually,” An unfamiliar voice interrupted the soon-to-be argument, “Weiss Schnee, right? Heir to the Schnee Fossil Fuel Company”

 

Finally, some recognition, and she had my music box! “Yes, as a matter of fact, I am-”

 

She interrupted once more, “Ah yes, the Schnee Fossil Fuel Company, responsible for releasing all kinds of pollutants into the air, bodies of water and wildlife.”

 

“What? How dare-” Enough of this, she snatched her music box away from the mystery girl that was accusing her of all of these things, “Ugh!” I threw all of my stuff very unorderly onto the cart and got away from the situation as quickly as possible. However, I still held the music box in my hands, as to make sure it wouldn’t fall again.

 

As soon as I was in the clear, I eagerly wound up my music box just to make sure nothing was damaged, and I was relieved to hear the faint tune of ‘Hushabye Mountain’ coming from the small musical instrument. I quickly closed the music box and tried to drive out the memory of my mother, the memory of how she always sang that song to her and her sister, Winter, every night they had trouble sleeping.

 

I quickly wiped away any tears that threatened to fall, ‘I can’t cry here, I have to get to the orientation,’ and with that one objective in mind, I made my way to the auditorium for the orientation.

  
  



	3. Beacon High - Chapter 3: Welcome to Beacon, Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaune has had a very difficult time trying to get to Beacon.

Chapter 3: Welcome to Beacon, Part II

 

As I entered the airport, I ran to the conveyor belt to grab my luggage that contained a few outfits, my onesie, a toothbrush, a grey rain jacket and some deodorant. I waited for ten minutes until I saw a brown suitcase with duct tape wrapped around the handle, making it easier to differentiate from other people's’ suitcases in case their suitcases were brown too. As soon as I saw it I grabbed it and tore right through the suitcase, digging desperately for my toothbrush.

 

After making a large mess around me, I finally found the small case that held my toothbrush, the solution to my biggest problem, bad breath. You see, vomiting on a plane five times really does a number on your breath, making you all the more self-conscious. After setting the toothbrush to my side, I threw all of my clothes back into the suitcase, but as I was about to grab my toothbrush, some jerk, accidentally or on purpose, ended up kicking the case that my toothbrush was held in, sliding it farther away from me.

 

“No!” I made a sprint for it, but as soon as I was about to bend down and grab it again, it was kicked again by another traveler, sliding it from my grasp yet again.

 

“Stop!”

 

And it happened.

 

“Quit kicking it!”

 

Again.

 

“What?!”

 

And again.

 

“Why me?!”

 

And again.

 

“Dammit!”

 

And again.

 

“Get back here!”

 

And once again.

 

“Argh!” I’ve had enough of this, I made a roll for the plastic container that held the only solution for my vomit breath, and I finally caught it in the middle of it’s repetitious act, “Aha! I’ve got you now!

 

However, when I was walking, it made the toothbrush container shake with every step I took, but there was no shaking to be heard, just a light weight in his hands.

 

“Please don’t tell me…” I opened it to hopefully prove myself wrong, but was horrified to see that the toothbrush container was as hollow as my will to live, “Awww, man.”

 

Angrily, I made my way back to where I abandoned my suitcase, thankful to see that it hadn’t been stolen. I set the empty toothbrush container inside the suitcase, zipped it up, and made my way outside.

 

‘Maybe there’s a grocery store around here somewhere…’ As I was walking towards the nearby bus stop about three blocks away, I pulled out my phone and looked at the bus schedule and it’s route, the good news was that Beacon Academy was only ten minutes away, the bad news is that there wasn’t a grocery store anywhere near the route the bus was taking, which means me and the people I talk to will just have to deal with my vomit breath until the orientation ends.

 

As I continued to walk to the bus stop, I noticed a beautiful stranger, vibrant red hair and emerald eyes that seemed to draw the attention of every living being, or at least, she grabbed mine. She wore a knee-length red dress that fit well over her figure, with a pair of dark gold high heels. It wasn’t until she looked at me did I notice I was staring at her, turning my face nearly as red as her hair. I tried playing it cool the only way I knew how.

 

“Hey, look at that!” I pointed to a bird. Nailed it.

 

She seemed confused for a moment until she started laughing, as she saw just what I was pointing to, “What? You mean the blue jay?” She continued to laugh and only until the bus arrived did it slack off gradually. 

 

Gradually being the key word.

 

As we made our way onto the public transit system, a few heads turned at her quiet, but noticeable giggle, and after a while I started to laugh as well, showing my vulnerability to such an infectious sound.

 

“Oh,” she wiped a small tear starting to form on the corner of her eye, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you, I just-”

 

She was cut off by more laughter.

 

“I’m sorry,” her laughter started to cease, “I don’t know what was so funny, it was quite charming honestly.”

 

“It’s okay,” it felt good to laugh. To smile, “To be honest, I just didn’t want you to think I was intentionally staring.”

 

“It’s fine,” warmness in her voice enveloped me, “I space out a lot too.”

 

After a few moments of silence, she broke the deafening sound, “You wouldn’t happen to know who I am, would you?.”

 

“Um,” the question caught me off guard, “I can’t say I do, should I?”

 

“No,” it was noticeable that some tension in her shoulders had been released, “I’m glad you don’t, it seems too many people know who I am.”

 

She spaced out on the second part, letting even more silence echo between us. Now it was my turn to break it.

 

“ _ Who _ are you?” I said, curiosity getting the best of me, and after a moment of her just staring, she finally answered.

 

“Pyrrha,” she said with what appeared to be a genuine smile, “Pyrrha Nikos.”

 

“Well,” I put my hand out for the shaking, “I’m Jaune Arc, and you wouldn’t happen to have any gum, would you?”

 

She covered her mouth with her hand, stifling more laughter, “Sure,” she fished a pack of cinnamon gum from her tarnished gold purse, “here you go.”

 

“Thank you so much,” I eagerly grab two pieces of gum and went to town on them immediately, feeling the effects turn the bad taste in my mouth into a far more tolerable one. I handed the pack of gum back to her and she placed it back into her purse.

 

“Not a problem,” she cheerily replied, “I noticed your suitcase,” she motioned down towards the brown case, holding an underwhelming amount of supplies.”

 

“Oh yeah!” I had nearly forgotten about that, “I’m not from Vale, I arrived from Atlas to attend Beacon Academy.”

 

“You too?” She looked surprised, “Well then, I’ll be seeing you at orientation I guess!”

 

“Yeah,” I gave a wide grin, “Save me a seat?”

 

“Sure thing!” She laughed, we carried on a normal conversation, talking about things we liked, what we wanted to do after school, all of that. Sadly, the exchange was cut short not due to arriving at Beacon, but the yelling that was a lot more clear once the doors of the bus opened.

 

“I’m so sorry!” said a younger girl with black hair with red tips, “ I didn't see where I was going, and I was lost, and-”

 

“And nothing! You can't just go around running into people's things without even thinking of where you're going, what makes you think that's okay?" an older, white haired girl said while towering over her, she may have had white hair, but she was anything but old, she was most definitely in my age range.

 

I looked at Pyrrha and she nodded, as though we had come to some silent agreement.

 

“Do you want to break it up? Or would you like me to?” Pyrrha asked confidently, ready to help in any way she can.

 

“Like I said,” I walked away from Pyrrha, looking back and flashing a bright smile all the while, “Save me a seat in the auditorium!”

 

She smiled back and made her way in the direction of the school, and as I see her walking away, I notice just how grand the school actually is, filtering out the argument that made me get off the bus first, I focused on the fine details of Beacon Academy.

 

The school was shaped very much like the Disney castle you’d see in the opening of the movies and shows, the highest point of the castle being as pointy as an elf’s ears, and all other towers surrounding the school sloped off at a perfect, forty-five degree angle, making the most OCD of people satisfied. The next thing was the entrance, light gray and thick concrete walls that seemed to protect the school from any outside threats, and it all lead into it’s own little park, complete with ponds and forestry.

 

‘Focus, Jaune!’ I chastised myself internally, ‘you’re walking this direction to break up this argument, not to gawk at the school.’

 

When I turned my attention back to the fight, I noticed a new face, a black haired girl who had a matching bow on top of her head, she had golden eyes that seemed to glow in the light and light skin, but it was still evident that she had spent some time in the sun, making her look several shades darker in comparison to the white haired girl, as she could almost pass off as an albino.

 

I saw the white haired girl yank something out of the black haired girl’s hands, storming off in a frenzy. I noticed the younger girl with the red-tipped hair attempt to say something to her apparent savior, but had either not heard her, or ignored her. Either way, she is to be praised to stop that one girl’s tyranny.

 

The younger girl slumped down in defeat, and said just loud enough for people who were close enough to hear: “Welcome to Beacon…” and then curled up in an upright ball with her arms around her knees.

 

“Hey,” I said nervously, expecting that it was her turn to blow up, either way I held out my hand to help her up, “I’m Jaune, and you look like you need a friend.”

 

“I’m Ruby,” she smiled faintly, obviously still upset at the argument that happened before the ‘knight in shining armor’ arrived, “and a friend sounds really nice right about now.”

______________________________________________________________________________

 

“All I’m saying is, motion sickness is a much more common problem than what people let on!” I made the stupid decision to recount all of my plights to the young girl named Ruby, who was laughing all the while when I told her my many difficulties that came with today.

 

“I’m sorry,” Ruby put her hands up defensively, “Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind.”

 

“Oh yeah,” I wiggled my eyebrows deviously, “what if  _ I  _ started calling you...  _ kid?” _

 

A moment of silence passed, making me fear that I had gone over the line, until she finally spoke.

 

“Fair,” She decided that the argument had come to an understanding, and that was to not call each other names that may cause sudden agitation.

 

More silence soon followed.

 

“So how did you get into Beacon? I asked, “I mean, there’s no doubt you’re smart, but I thought this place was only accessible to juniors and seniors.”

 

“I was always at the top of my class, and since Yang got into Beacon, Headmaster Ozpin did some research on me as well and allowed me to come to Beacon early.”

 

“Wow,” that was all I could say, I had no idea the person he was talking to was so smart.

 

But then he wondered, is that the truth? Or did she come here by other means?

 

He really couldn’t be one to judge. Beacon was unbelievably hard to get into, so I can see why someone would be willing to do whatever they needed to in order to make their transcripts nice and neat.

 

“So why did you help me?” Ruby asked, snapping me out of my thoughts, “I mean, I appreciate it, but I haven’t even met you until today and you’ve been nothing but nice to me, what gives?

 

“My mom always said strangers are just friends you’ve never met yet.” I said easily, wanting to let the younger girl know I had the purest of intentions as far as reaching out to her.

 

Ruby seemed pleased at that answer and went back to walking with me, unaware of the time that was passing before them.

 

“Where are we going?” She asked inquisitively, “I enjoy walking around, but we’ve been doing this for a while now, haven’t we?”

 

“Honestly, I have no idea,” I answered truthfully, “I’ve just been following you. I haven’t really been keeping track of where we’ve been, I’ve just been talking.”

 

She pulled her phone out, “it’s 11:39 and orientation starts at twelve, so we may need to find a directory.

 

“That might take too long,” I looked around for a directory, although there were none to be seen, “We can probably make out way back to the front of the school and follow the crowd, it would be much more easier.”

 

She nodded her head as I turned to lead the way back to the entrance of the school, walking at a faster pace in order to get there in time for both the orientation and to snag the seat Pyrrha had hopefully saved for me.

 

After a following the trail me and Ruby had been walking on for so long, it led back to the main entrance of the school. We still had plenty of time to spare by the time we walked through the grand doors of the school, and with that fact in mind, we didn’t have to rush to find the auditorium, giving us both a lot more wiggle room as far as ‘taking time’ was concerned.

 

Within a few minutes of searching, we found said area, making our way inside to, yet again, gawk at an amazing piece of architecture.

 

To say it was impressive would be an understatement, as a glass ceiling covered the entirety of the area, allowing all students to bask in natural light as opposed to a more signature auditorium in most high schools, all of them being poorly lit and stuffy. The walls were a stainless white marble, tall and round pillars that seemed to stretch on for fifteen or so feet, supporting the glass ceiling. The room was rounded into a perfect circle, with bleachers surrounding the area above ten feet in the air, giving more space for students and staff alike to sit in case the already vast area was too cramped. The next most noticeable thing was the stage where we would be hearing Headmaster Ozpin welcome us to his school, it only stood about five feet in tall, making it fairly easy to climb up on the stage without the use of the stairs on either side of the stage.

 

“Hey, Ruby!” A blonde yelled, her voice very clear, even against the conversations of the crowd, “I saved you a seat!”

 

“Ooh,” she turned to me, “ I gotta go now, Jaune, but thank you for helping me!” She waved me off and made her way to over to the vacant seat next to the blonde, a small argument that seemed to follow almost as soon as she sat down.

 

After hearing the word ‘seat’, I wondered where Pyrrha was and if she saved me a spot. My eyes scanned for her and after a solid minute of standing there, looking, I heard a clear and proper voice call out my name.

 

“Jaune!”

 

I looked to see where it came from and I saw Pyrrha wave me over, signalling towards the seat she had kept open for me. I smiled and made my way past clustered groups of people.

 

“Excuse me! Pardon! Gotta get through! Sorry!” I wiggled my way through walls of people and finally made it to the seat where my new friend was, relieved to find she had stayed true on her promise.

 

“Hello!” Pyrrha’s voice rang happily, “I hope this seat is okay.”

 

“Oh yeah,” I said reassuringly, “a little of something is always better than all of nothing.”

 

Her brows rose with agreement, as well as a smile that soon followed. Before I could carry on a conversation, the room grew silent as Ozpin walked onto stage and tapped his microphone.

 

“May I have your attention please?” Silence soon follows, “thank you.”

 

“I’ll keep this brief,” he began, “You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your skills to whatever it is that you desire to do. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge will only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step.”

 

‘He seemed… out of it.’ I thought internally, I was snapped out of any thoughts once more, by another woman who stepped on stage.

 

“You all will gather at the ballroom tonight - tomorrow, your initiation begins.” She added at the end of Ozpin’s speech, “Be ready, you are dismissed!”

 

“Initiation?” I said aloud, “What does she mean by ‘be ready’?”

 

I began to panic, I felt my blood run cold, it doesn’t matter how I prepare for whatever lies ahead, I won’t ever be ready! I started to hyperventilate, I felt the walls close in on me, my world was spinning and my heart felt like it would burst out of my chest.

 

“Jaune?” Pyrrha looked worried, “are you okay?”

 

Afraid that I was going to have an audience, I steeled my nerves and began to gather my bearings.

 

‘You need to breath, Jaune,’ I chided internally, ‘breath.’

 

I met Pyrrha’s eyes, “I’m fine, I just remembered something, that’s all.”

 

She didn’t look convinced, but decided to drop it anyways.

 

“Okay then,” she gave a smile, “well, if you need something, don’t hesitate to ask!”

 

“Thank you,” I said, finally gaining a bit of composure back. Deep down, I still feared for tomorrow, but I had to keep a level head if I wanted to pass of as though there wasn’t a worry in the world, “I’m going to go make a run to the grocery store, I’ll be back soon, I just can’t go without one.” I pushed myself out of my seat.

 

“Okay,” she made her way up as well, “I’ll see you later then!”

 

“Sounds good,” I made my way out of the auditorium, pushing my way out of the crowd once again. I had to get out of here, get some fresh air.

 

As I finally made it outside of the school building, I finally let the emotions flow, my face stating the concern without the words ever needing to be said. Chances are, I’m going home after tomorrow, with more shame to my name than there ever has been.

  
But I had to keep pressing forward, even if it means the truth comes out.


End file.
